In 1907 the Metropolitan Building Company took over the lease of the old University of Washington campus in downtown Seattle, known initially as the University Tract and later became the Metropolitan Tract. That company engaged the New York architectural firm of Howells & Stokes and began construction of their first building. Three other buildings soon followed, all along Fourth Avenue and all named for shareholders in the Company; one of them being the Henry Building, completed in September 1909 and named for Horace C. Henry, donor of the Henry Art Gallery. Architect A.H. Albertson oversaw this and the Howells and Stokes firm's other works on the West Coast, eventually forming his own separate partnership with Howells around 1917. This new firm completed most of the remaining Metropolitan Tract buildings, all of which, with the exception of the Cobb building, are now destroyed. The drawings illustrate many of the features the original Metropolitan Tract designs had in common: terra cotta ornamentation at the top and street levels, brick in-between; decorative elements combining Beaux-Arts and commercial styles, such as symmetry, a clearly marked storefront and ornate classical detailing. The Henry, White and Stuart buildings shared one block now known as the Rainier Plaza. Their coordinated facades created the appearance of a single structure, often referred to as the White Henry Stuart Building. They are no longer extant.